


The Campfire

by Hester_Of_Ravenswood



Category: The School for Good and Evil - Soman Chainani
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-01 13:12:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18335030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hester_Of_Ravenswood/pseuds/Hester_Of_Ravenswood
Summary: Hester realizes her feelings for Anadil at the Battle of Four PointOrDid you ever wonder what happened at the beloved campfire scene?





	The Campfire

Hester could feel herself sweating on the trapdoor, the scims wrapped around her.

 

Hester was normally unshakeable, but with not only her life in peril but almost all of her fellow questers... well, that was enough to mess with even a tough witch like her.

 

Her demon slammed against the chains on her neck, but it did nothing.

 

It didn’t have full power until it was separated from her body.

 

She heard frantic squeaking beside her and looked over.

 

She saw Anadil, red eyes wide and terrified, trying to escape.

 

It did nothing but make the scims tighten around her neck.

 

Hester suddenly felt the all consuming need to comfort her.

 

That was certainly not her forte (and with these scims blocking her it was all but impossible), but she did her best.

 

She moved the only part of her body that she could without killing herself right there.

 

Her leg reached out, her foot grazing against Anadil’s calf.

 

The albino jumped slightly before looking at her friend.

 

Hester gave her a comforting smile (at least she hoped it looked comforting, but she really wasn’t good at that).

 

Anadil took a deep breath and gave her a thin smile of her own in return.

 

Hester wasn’t sure if they were going to make it out of this one... but she did know one thing.

 

She was going to be there for Anadil until the bitter end.

 

~

 

The Snake tightened the scims around the young prince’s neck and forced the crowd to scream.

 

“COWARDLY. LITTLE. LION.”

 

Hester growled lowly, giving the Snake her best glare.

 

As soon as she got out of these scims she’d make him pay.

 

She glanced at Anadil

 

She was still trying to control her fear and Hester felt her heart ache.

 

She had to get out of here... for Anadil.

 

~

 

The Snake shuffled the deck filled with their faces on cards and Hester heard her heart beat in her ears.

 

As the Snake started to draw, Hester only had time for a single thought.

 

Please don’t let it be Ani. Anyone but Ani.

 

Hester felt surprise ripple through her.

 

Shouldn’t she be worried for herself?

 

Villains were supposed to be selfish... but she would honestly rather see her own face on that card than Anadil’s.

 

The card was revealed and Kiko’s trapdoor dropped from underneath her.

 

Hester watched in horror as her friend fell-

 

But she was caught a second before death by Agatha.

 

Hester let out a breath of relief.

 

The Snake glowered at Agatha before having Sophie draw a card.

 

Hester made the same wish, not caring whose face was on the card as long as it wasn’t Anadil’s.

 

Nicola’s appeared and Hester’s heart sank.

 

She’d really liked that Reader...

 

Sophie threw herself under Nicola and caught her at an odd angle, barely holding her up.

 

Hester, although relieved the Reader has survived another moment, felt her blood chill.

 

That was the last one they could save.

 

There were only two of them.

 

The Snake drew a card himself and Hort’s face appeared.

 

Hester thrust her legs out instantly, watching as everyone else connected by chains did the same, Dot even going so far as to catch Hort’s backside with her leg.

 

It was an awkward position, but it was worth it to save their friend’s life.

 

Hester saw the Snake reaching for another card before two forms appeared, rising on a deer’s back.

 

Beatrix and Reena.

 

The two girls fired flaming arrows at the Snake, fighting until they were pinned up against the walls of Four Point.

 

The fire destroyed all the scims it touched and Agatha instantly grabbed an arrow, burning off the scims around Kiko and allowing the girl to fall to the ground.

 

Hester’s heart soared, watching as every new freed student ran off and helped others.

 

Hester’s was burned off first and she stole the arrow from her savior’s hand, leaping from her trapdoor to Anadil’s and viciously burning away the scims around her friend.

 

Anadil slumped in relief.

 

Hester caught her friend as she took deep breaths.

 

“I’ve got you,” she said softly.

 

Anadil looked up at her and turned a light shade of pink.

 

Hester suddenly remembered where they were and looked around.

 

They had other things to do.

 

She summoned her demon from her neck and sent it around, burning other hostages from their nooses, starting with Dot.

 

~

 

The rest of the battle on Four Point went by relatively quickly, leaving the questers to escape and gather on the Igraine.

 

Hester found herself going back to the moment when he had drawn the first card.

 

She knew that if he had drawn her own card, she would have just been relieved that Anadil’s hadn’t been.

 

The thought made her heart beat faster.

 

What was going on?

 

Since when did she put anyone before herself?

 

She was a villain.

 

She wasn’t supposed to do that kind of think.

 

Hester didn’t find a chance to say anything about it, however, as she and Anadil went around helping their injured friends.

 

But Hester couldn’t focus on anything but the weird way her heart leapt when Anadil’s hand brushed against hers as they bandaged up Vex.

 

She jerked and pulled the bandage too tight, getting a loud and indignant sound from him.

 

She shook her head and kept helping her fellow quester, trying to ignore just how close Anadil was right now.

 

She’d never noticed that kind of thing before...

 

~

 

Hester didn’t know why she was trying to get the chance to talk to Anadil, but she didn’t find one.

 

As soon as they landed in Nottingham, they were off searching for those scims with Dot.

 

And once they’d found them, they were with Dot’s father, telling the man just how wrong he was about his daughter (and Hester didn’t think that Anadil’s aggression was amazing at all... even though she was usually more calm and controlled. She didn’t think it was fascinating to see her rage like this at all... not at all).

 

~

 

All of the sudden, Hester found that they were in fact alone.

 

Dot had gone on a date with some guy named Kei and everyone else was busy (almost everyone doing something sickeningly romantic in their time of peace).

 

Now she was sitting next to Anadil at a campfire, her heart beating far too fast.

 

“Crazy day,” Anadil said idly as she stroked her tired rats.

 

“Yeah,” Hester said, not looking at her.

 

Anadil suddenly dropped something on the ground between them.

 

Hester glanced over and caught sight of a small brown paper bag filled with marshmallows.

 

Anadil handed her a stick and gave her a rare smile.

 

“Stole it from a few of Hood’s men,” she explained before spearing a marshmallow with her stick.

 

Hester slowly joined her, trying not to think about the last time she’d had marshmallows...

 

It had been the night before her mother had died.

 

She shook her head slightly and stuck the stick into the fire.

 

There was silence for a long moment before Hester summoned her courage.

 

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

 

Anadil frowned and looked at her.

 

Anadil wondered whether the fire was making Hester’s face look pink or if...

 

“Umm, you too,” Anadil said.

 

Hester took a deep breath.

 

She wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but she knew that it had to be said... whatever it was.

 

“I was... worried for you.”

 

Anadil almost dropped her stick.

 

“What?” she asked softly.

 

“When we were tied up,” Hester elaborated.

 

Anadil gripped her stick tighter than earlier.

 

“I wished that anyone’s card would be drawn but yours,” Hester whispered, barely even speaking.

 

The tone seemed perfect for the situation.

 

Anadil’s face turned red and she moved a bit closer to Hester on the log they were resting on.

 

“Even yours?”

 

“Even mine.”

 

Anadil’s heart betrayed her and fluttered like a silly Ever’s.

 

“I did too,” Anadil said.

 

Hester looked over at her for the first time.

 

Both of them just stared at each other, their sticks long forgotten in the fire in front of them.

 

“I didn’t know why, but I think I might now,” Hester whispered.

 

Anadil looked back at her, unblinking.

 

“Really?”

 

Hester nodded and leaned toward her, invading her personal space.

 

For once, neither of them minded someone else being so close.

 

“I do,” Hester said.

 

With that, the two witches connected their lips.

 

It was sloppy and neither of them had ever done anything like this before... but it was perfect.

 

Anadil almost fell from the log in shock, but Hester’s arm wrapped around her waist to catch her.

 

Anadil dropped her stick entirely and wrapped her hands around Hester’s neck.

 

Her rats tittered in excitement, racing through her hair and across her shoulders.

 

Hester couldn’t taste the marshmallow Anadil had had earlier and...

 

Well, let’s just say that she had made a new, and much better, memory with that particular dessert.

 

The two separated only when they ran out of breath.

 

They set their foreheads against each other and both blushed red.

 

Anadil suddenly let out a cackling laugh.

 

Hester raised an eyebrow, telling her to continue.

 

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Anadil said softly.

 

Hester smirked.

 

“Let’s make up for lost time then.”

 

Anadil’s smile widened and she agreed hastily.

 

~

 

About fifteen minutes later, the two sat together in companionable silence.

 

Anadil slowly set her head on Hester’s shoulder, wondering if the tattooed witch would be okay with her doing so.

 

Hester wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Anadil guessed she was.

 

Neither of them noticed when four people trailed along the path behind them.

 

They were far too distracted by what had just happened.

 

~

 

“What does this mean?” Anadil asked a while later.

 

Hester had been eating marshmallows like there was no tomorrow for the past ten minutes and Anadil had been silently laughing.

 

Hester paused.

 

“What do you mean?” she asked cautiously.

 

She could see Anadil blushing beside her.

 

“Are we...”

 

Hester didn’t need her to clarify.

 

She knew exactly what Anadil meant.

 

She always did.

 

“If you want...”

 

Anadil looked back over at her with a small smile coating her face.

 

She clearly couldn’t hold it in any longer.

 

“I’d like that...”

 

Hester found herself smiling as well.

 

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d smiled this much (except perhaps when she had learned how Tedros had humiliated himself at his coronation... but this was far better).

 

“Me too.”


End file.
